Accenture and IPSoft have launched a new practice called Accenture Amelia Practice (AAP), a new business unit aimed at helping clients adopt artificial intelligence in business. Accenture claims that AAP will help organisations in improving their business outcomes and create new growth opportunities. The company said that it will develop an array of go-to-market strategies, solutions and consulting service offerings for the deployment of virtual agent technology for clients across several industries. In the initial stages, the business unit will cater to clients in banking, insurance and travel industries with its virtual agent technology. Accenture chief technology officer, Paul Daugherty said: "Artificial intelligence is maturing rapidly and offers great potential to reshape the way that organisations conduct business and interact with their customers and employees. "At the same time, executives are overwhelmed by the plethora of technologies and many products that are advertising AI or Cognitive capabilities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining momentum across industries with the help of companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft. McKinsey & Company estimates that as much as 45% of the tasks currently performed by people can be automated using current technologies -- not only low-level rote tasks, but high-level knowledge work as well. "Our point of view is that there is no function, no industry, almost no role that won't potentially be affected by this set of technologies -- not just every occupation, but every activity within each occupation," said Michael Chui, a partner with McKinsey Global Institute, in an interview. "It's not just automating the labor that's being done, but the work people do will have to change as well. Understanding how to take advantage of these technologies is going to be critically important."

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining momentum across industries with the help of companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft. McKinsey & Company estimates that as much as 45% of the tasks currently performed by people can be automated using current technologies – not only low-level rote tasks, but high-level knowledge work as well. "Our point of view is that there is no function, no industry, almost no role that won't potentially be affected by this set of technologies – not just every occupation, but every activity within each occupation," said Michael Chui, a partner with McKinsey Global Institute, in an interview. "It's not just automating the labor that's being done, but the work people do will have to change as well. Understanding how to take advantage of these technologies is going to be critically important."

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Consulting firm Accenture has announced a partnership with artificial intelligence software company, IPsoft, aimed at spurring the use of AI in the enterprise, ZDNet reports. The deal will see Accenture integrate IPsoft's AI program, Amelia, into a new business unit called Accenture Amelia. Amelia is similar to other virtual assistants such as Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa, however, IPsoft's program is reportedly more expressive and capable of showing empathy than other programs.

Management consulting company Accenture has teamed up with IT automater IPsoft to launch an artificially intelligent agent called Amelia, who has been designed to encourage companies to embrace machine learning. Similar to Apple's Siri, Amelia will tackle client queries in "conversational" language, answering questions and managing processes. For example, she is able to help customers open bank accounts, or check out insurance policies. She will also be on hand to help employees within businesses, providing internal services like HR and guiding staff on company policies. As well as boasting natural language capabilities, Amelia has an element of machine learning - meaning she can be taught how to carry out various functions, like answering calls, via a simple uploading process.

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Accenture has announced what looks like a major step forward in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within IT and business process operations by forming a new practice with IPSoft. Accenture will set up an Accenture Amelia practice to'develop go-to-market strategies, solutions and consulting service offerings around deployments of virtual agent technology'. The aim is to focus initially on clients in the banking, insurance and travel sectors. Last November, Accenture also announced an investment in AI at its Centre for Innovation in Dublin to help clients to'accelerate the integration of intelligence and automation to transform their businesses'. IPSoft is one of a group of technology providers emerging in the AI/cognitive learning space, which we discuss in our reports into Intelligent Automation (see Business Process Automation – what is Intelligent Automation? and work back).

Accenture and IPsoft announced the creation of an Accenture Amelia practice, designed to help accelerate client adoption of artificial intelligence, which can lead to improved business outcomes and help create new growth opportunities for businesses. Accenture will utilize IPsoft's Amelia platform to develop go-to-market strategies, solutions and consulting service offerings around deployments of virtual agent technology for clients across several industries with initial focus on banking, insurance and travel. Accenture's Technology Vision 2016--research that gathers input from more than 3,100 business and IT executives across the public and private sectors, academia, venture capital firms and entrepreneurial companies in 11 countries and 12 industries--found that 70 percent of corporate executives are making significantly more investments in artificial intelligence related technologies than two years ago, with 55 percent stating that they plan on using machine learning and embedded artificial intelligence. The formation of the Accenture Amelia practice further expands existing collaboration with IPsoft and builds on Accenture's own artificial intelligence capabilities and efforts; including the recently announced accelerated research and development agenda in artificial intelligence across its global network.

Move over, Siri and Tay, and make room for a new female virtual agent set to invade the enterprise: Amelia. Things are happening fast in the new world of artificial intelligence (AI) development, and a new industry partnership just announced today aims to help enterprises adopt the complicated and potentially game-changing technology with Amelia. Accenture, a professional services consultancy, is teaming up with IPsoft, an autonomic and cognitive computing specialist that invented Amelia, "to accelerate client adoption of artificial intelligence to improve business outcomes and create new growth opportunities for their businesses." The importance of AI in the enterprise -- along with ancillary technologies like machine learning (ML) and cognitive computing -- was highlighted recently by no less than Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in keynote addresses at their respective developer conferences. Their companies are helping to spearhead AI programming, with early efforts centered around bots, or chatbots, or virtual agents.

No sooner than one global consulting giant has jumped on board with the latest technology trend, another follows suit. Accenture is launching an artificial intelligence practice just a week after PwC did the same with drones, in a bid for a share of the multi-billion dollar and fast growing industry. The Amelia practice, named after the AI software from IPsoft with which it has partnered, will work with clients on integrating AI technology into their business, initially focusing on the banking, insurance and travel sectors. "Artificial intelligence is maturing rapidly and offers great potential to reshape the way that organisations conduct business and interact with their customers and employees. At the same time, executives are overwhelmed by the plethora of technologies and many products that are advertising AI or cognitive capabilities," said Accenture chief technology officer Paul Daugherty.